Charities have also expressed concerns over the of lack transparency in data collected centrally on the deaths of people from these groups during the pandemic.

Important to have a timely, full and accurate picture of COVID-19-related deaths

Mencap chief executive Edel Harris said: ‘It important now more than ever that we have a timely, full and accurate picture of COVID-19-related deaths of people with a learning disability across all settings.’

Public Health England director of health improvement John Newton said the work of the new expert group would be an important first step.

‘It enables us to take a first step in analysing the impact of COVID-19 on people with learning disabilities,’ he said. ‘Further data will be needed for us to conduct detailed research for this group, and once we have access to this and the analysis is complete, any findings will be considered.’

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said it was critical to better understand how to protect groups that might be disproportionality affected by COVID-19.

The spokesperson said: ‘NHS England and PHE’s work will contribute to our understanding of factors that impact on someone’s susceptibility to the virus and we’ll continue to review data sources to understand the effect of COVID-19 on particular groups of people, including those with disabilities, to protect lives and limit the spread.’